The following article is from Revolver’s April/May 2015 issue.It is available for purchase in our webstore.

We’re om kind of the beginning stages of the finishing stages, if that makes any sense,” says Slayer bassist and vocalist Tom Araya of the legendary thrash band’s forthcoming full-length. “We’re doing the mixing and mastering now, but we still need to sit down and figure out the album title, the album cover, the song titles, and the song list. We’ve recorded 13 songs for it; we’ll probably put ten on there, but who knows? Maybe you’ll get lucky and we’ll put all 13 on there!”

The as-yet-untitled album, the band’s 11th studio LP—and their first for Nuclear Blast—was produced by Terry Date (Pantera, Soundgarden, Korn) over a four-month period at Hollywood’s Henson Studios. “Terry’s been a big part of it,” says Araya. “He’s been the ‘unbiased ears,’ which is what you really want when you’re working with someone, and I think he got some really great performances out of us. It was a pleasure working with him.”

The tracks for the album were primarily recorded by Araya, guitarist Kerry King and drummer Paul Bostaph, the latter of whom rejoined the band in 2013. It’s the first album Slayer has made primarily without the help of guitarist and co-founder Jeff Hanneman—who died of alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver in 2013—and Araya says it was difficult to get used to the absence of his longtime colleague.

“Ever since his passing, it’s been like that—just odd and strange, because he’s never gonna be there again, you know?” he says, with a noticeable sadness in his voice. “Even when we were doing stuff without him while he was still alive, that felt strange. Yeah, I missed him during the process. But the way things turned out, I think he was definitely a part of it, even if he wasn’t there physically.”

Hanneman is physically present on one unnamed track, however. “The whole process of this album started three years ago, when Jeff was still a part of it,” says Araya. “There is one track on there that we recorded with him, that he did play on, which was completely done except we hadn’t finalized the vocals for it. So we were fortunate to have something that he had participated in.”

Exodus guitarist Gary Holt, who filled in on tour for Hanneman during his illness and after his untimely death, was invited to record solos for many of the tracks. “Kerry asked Gary to come in, and he shredded some leads on quite a few songs,” Araya recalls. “He came down and damaged his wrist. I’m serious! Well, he didn’t damage it, but his wrist was pretty sore—that’s what he claimed,” he laughs. “Gary gave it all—and he was a man about it, too!”

Lyrically, Araya says the album will cover “the usual topics—conflict, confrontation, religion. It’s all about the social ills that dominate humankind. It’s a Slayer record, you know what I mean?” he laughs. “It’s gonna be a really, really powerful record, so let everybody know!” DAN EPSTEIN

Yesterday, April 23, Zakk Wylde performed the Black Label Society song “In this River” in accompaniment to a video montage paying tribute to the hard-rock and metal fallen heroes we lost over the decade since Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell’s death. Watch the performance below and let us know what you think in the comments.

A traffic circle in Jaworzno, Poland, has been renamed after Jeff Hanneman, the co-founding Slayer guitarist who died May 2, 2013, at age 49.

The official sign unveiling took place Thursday, Febraury 6, courtesy of a Polish company called Art-Com Sp. z o.o. (Art-Com Ltd.). For one year, reports CentrumDruku3D, the traffic circle in Jaworzno will be called Jeff Hanneman’s Circle Pit.

A message on the sign at the traffic circle reads:

“Jeff Hanneman’s Circle Pit — unforgettable Slayer guitarist.

“During the XXII Final of The Great Orchestra Of Christmas charity, the president of Jaworzno put up for auction the traffic circle in the city centre, which was later auctioned by Art-Com Ltd. The company could give the name to the traffic circle and became its ‘symbolic’ owner for the period of one year. The money gathered during the XXII Final of The Great Orchestra Of Christmas charity was allocated for the purchase of specialized equipment for children’s emergency medicine and deserving health care of seniors.”

Below, you can check out a video report on the official unveiling. NOTE: The video will be more enjoyable if you speak Polish.

]]>http://www.revolvermag.com/news/polish-city-names-traffic-circle-after-the-late-jeff-hanneman-of-slayer.html/feed4Live Report: Slayer at Madison Square Gardenhttp://www.revolvermag.com/news/live-report-slayer-at-madison-square-garden.html
http://www.revolvermag.com/news/live-report-slayer-at-madison-square-garden.html#commentsMon, 02 Dec 2013 16:21:19 +0000http://www.revolvermag.com/?p=55707Chris Krovatin is the author of three young adult novels, Heavy Metal & You, Venomous, and Gravediggers: Mountain of Bones. He is currently working on multiple new writing projects, as well as new material with his local New York metal band Flaming Tusk. He is a contributing writer for Revolver and generally comes off as a good-natured pain in everyone’s collective ass. This piece below represents his opinions–and probably only his opinions.

The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York, November 27

Number of times this reporter screams “Slayer” before even entering the venue: Approximately six.

Number of times this reporter has seen Slayer: Too many to count–approximately 25.

Sad confession of the night: I think this will be my final Slayer show.

Reasoningbehind previous statement: With the death of Jeff Hanneman, something vastly important to my love of this band has gone. Tonight should be a send-off—a final show with my favorite band, in honor of a fallen comrade.

Help in making this decision: The prices of everything. Jesus Christ, guys, $35 for a T-shirt? I can make a T-shirt for that much.

]]>http://www.revolvermag.com/news/live-report-slayer-at-madison-square-garden.html/feed1“Jeff Hanneman Arrives in Metal Heaven” by Contributing Writer Chris Krovatinhttp://www.revolvermag.com/blogs/jeff-hanneman-arrives-in-metal-heaven-by-chris-krovatin.html
http://www.revolvermag.com/blogs/jeff-hanneman-arrives-in-metal-heaven-by-chris-krovatin.html#commentsThu, 04 Jul 2013 13:00:48 +0000http://www.revolvermag.com/?p=50206Chris Krovatin is the author of three young adult novels, Heavy Metal & You, Venomous, and Gravediggers: Mountain of Bones. He is currently working on multiple new writing projects, as well as new material with his local New York metal band Flaming Tusk. He is a contributing writer for Revolver and generally comes off as a good-natured pain in everyone’s collective ass. This column represents his opinions–and probably only his opinions.

Some time ago, I wrote a piece about my vision of Metal Heaven. With the passing of Jeff Hanneman–guitarist of my favorite band of all time, Slayer–I couldn’t help but wonder what Metal Heaven was like when he showed up. The following is how I picture it:

The first announcement blares through ashen sky on the deep-toned horns of the Watchers, fleet-hoofed satyrs that spend their entire lives on mountain outposts, obsidian eyes perpetually trained towards earth to observe the passing of legends. Soon after their initial alarm, smoke pours from the chimneys of the Invictus Citadel at the city’s center. For each fallen warrior, the smoke takes a different form—for Darrel, the air filled with dank clouds of the finest Texan kush; for Chuck, the pipes became charnel jets, spewing a vapor somehow composed of still-writhing meat. Today, on May 2, in the Year Of Our Self 2013, the Invictus erupts in a torrent of oppressively pitch-black smoke that pools overhead. Scarlet lightning lacerates the night sky, and slowly, a deluge of human blood gushes from the gargantuan cloud, painting the world crimson. Each peal of thunder comes in three beats—DUN DUN DUN—and seems to whisper a dark promise: Look alive, look dead. Polish your swords, load your guns. He is coming. He is coming.

Mourning is necessary, if only for his loss to the world. Mixed crowds of dead souls, nuclear wraiths, and towering crag-faced warbeasts take to the streets, each bearing a black candle and a heavy heart. In every catacomb and crypt, the dead, from festering gasbag to cobweb-clad skeleton, crawl from grottoes and caskets and bow their heads in a display of gratitude. In the great mead halls and barracks, infernal warriors lay down their arms, pull off their gas masks, and know that the soul who spun their combat anthems has been stripped from the land of the living. They offer up a prayer, if there is such a thing in this place, to Tom, Kerry, Dave, Kathy, and all others who will no longer know him. Then, the celebration erupts in a deafening blast of joyous cacophony, a symphony of clashed shields, beaten chests, bellowed cries, and clinked beer bottles. For a brief moment, all of the land joins in their triumphant joy at his coming. Heineken sponsors the next 20 minutes.

Then, preparation, frantic but gratefully performed. Thirty-fingered artisans, their many facial sores splitting and oozing pus as they grin with glee, paint epic vistas of demonic assassins flooding the earth, spilling pure Hell and radioactive grandeur across humanity’s corrupt and repellent face. Brutish stonemasons, their tattooed biceps bulging with exertion, begin crafting a series of statues to line that evening’s parade—spirits in black, revealed through the unwinding coils of venomous serpents; helmet-clad ghosts of once-forgotten soldiers rising to new life; and a rotten depiction of the Angel of Death himself, flying free. From the mountains, snaggle-toothed trolls arrive, hauling jagged hunks of iron ore to the smelting plant in the Ironbound where hordes of armor-clad mutants begin forging it into steel for the Citadel’s commemorative crest. Giant bats and hideous gargoyles are sent flapping in the air with care packages of cold beer and Mexican food, soaring upwards to Limbo, where he is no doubt bogged down finishing the post-mortem paperwork and autographing LPs.

As the arrival draws near, the entire world is abuzz with preparation. Garlands of skulls and M16 rounds are strung between every rafter. Great joints of behemoth meat are rubbed with gravel and roasted over smoldering souls of hypocrites and backstabbers. Every spider, no matter how inconsequential and harmless their bite, is captured, killed, or run out of town, even Araxnor the Hideous, who scuttles into the woods with her brood clinging to her thorax, reluctantly fleeing for propriety’s sake. Every screen that floats, hangs, or squats throughout the city center is alive with images of battlefield carnage or footage from Live Intrusion and War at the Warfield. The streets outside the Invictus writhe with every manner of headbanger and unholy post-human creature, all dressed in full shinguards and Raiders’ gear and hoisting inverted crucifixes over their heads. The ironworkers bring forth their masterpiece, a giant steel eagle with two Jackson guitars crossed over its center; it takes two hella-copters and a 30-foot granite golem to affix it to the front of the Citadel, where its eyes burst into obsidian flames.

The decorations in place, the crowds roiling like a lake of fire, all is prepared for his coming. Overhead, the black cloud of malice begins to churn, creating a vortex at its center and spitting out even more unholy lightning that sends the occasional careless vampire or fallen angel crash-landing amid the crowds below. The ever-widening gyre in the sky begins rumbling with a noise that is equal parts thunder and amplifier feedback, and suddenly a single bolt of light erupts from its core, momentarily blinding the gibbering masses as it enters the Invictus Citadel, making every black stained-glass window flicker eerily before it dissipates. Then, as the abyssal gate in the clouds closes, the doors to the citadel swing open with a earth-shaking rumble, and a shadow, tall and jagged at its edges, emanates from the door, stretching down the central promenade like a black carpet upon which only the unholy may tread.

The crowd’s roar grows deafening as a silhouette, haloed in a whipping mane of blonde hair, makes its way from the darkness and into the open, hailed and greeted on all sides as brother and friend.

]]>http://www.revolvermag.com/blogs/jeff-hanneman-arrives-in-metal-heaven-by-chris-krovatin.html/feed0Memorial for Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman Set for May 23 in Hollywoodhttp://www.revolvermag.com/news/memorial-for-slayers-jeff-hanneman-set-for-may-23-in-hollywood.html
http://www.revolvermag.com/news/memorial-for-slayers-jeff-hanneman-set-for-may-23-in-hollywood.html#commentsThu, 16 May 2013 14:48:35 +0000http://www.revolvermag.com/?p=48559

A public memorial event for Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman has been set for Thursday, May 23, at the Hollywood Palladium, which has a capacity of about 4,000. Fans are invited to the event, which is free, on a “first-come, first-in” basis, according the band.

Hanneman died May 2 of alcohol-related cirrhosis. He was 49.

The guitarist helped shape Slayer’s uncompromising thrash-metal sound as well as an entire genre of music. His riffs were heard in the songs he wrote, including “Angel of Death,” “Raining Blood,” “South of Heaven” and “War Ensemble.”

Hanneman co-founded Slayer with fellow-guitarist Kerry King, bassist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo in Huntington Park, California, in 1981. For more than 30 years, Hanneman was the band member who stayed out of the spotlight, rarely did interviews, amassed an impressive collection of World War II memorabilia, was with his wife Kathy for nearly three decades, shut off his phone and went incommunicado when he was home from tour, did not want to be on the road too late into any December as Christmas was his favorite holiday, and, from the time he was about 12 years old, woke up every, single day with one thing on his mind: playing the guitar.

It was once suggested to Slayer that if they would write “just one mainstream song that could get on the radio,” they would likely sell millions of records and change the commercial course of their career, similar to what had happened to Metallica with 1993′s “Enter Sandman.” Jeff was the first to draw a line of integrity in the sand, replying, “We’re going to make a Slayer record. If you can get it on the radio, fine, if not, then fuck it.”

The event will take place 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. All ages are welcome, and paid parking will be available around the venue.

Today, exactly a week after Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman died of liver failure at age 49, the band posted an update on the facts surrounding the guitarist’s death.

The statement revealed Hanneman’s official cause of death: alcohol-related cirrhosis, an irreversible scarring of the liver.

“While he had his health struggles over the years, including the recent necrotizing fasciitis infection that devastated his well-being, Jeff and those close to him were not aware of the true extent of his liver condition until the last days of his life,” reads the statement.

“Contrary to some reports, Jeff was not on a transplant list at the time of his passing, or at any time prior to that. In fact, by all accounts, it appeared that he had been improving. He was excited and looking forward to working on a new record.”

In the same press release, Slayer announced that a public memorial in Hanneman’s honor will take place at a still-to-be-determined date and location.

“While the details are being worked out now, Slayer wants its fans to know that there will be a celebration of Jeff Hanneman’s life sometime later this month, along with Jeff’s family and friends, the public will be invited to attend. More information will be posted here [futureusgalleryslayer.net] soon.

“Kerry King and Tom Araya are trying to deal with the loss of their brother by remembering some the good times they shared.

“KERRY: “I had so many great times with Jeff…in the early days when we were out on the road, he and I were the night owls, we would stay up all night on the bus, just hanging out, talking, watching movies…World War II movies, horror movies, we watched Full Metal Jacket so many times, we could practically recite all of the dialogue.”

“TOM: “When we first formed Slayer, we used to rehearse all the time, religiously, 24/7. Jeff and I spent a lot of time hanging out together, he lived in my father’s garage which was also our rehearsal space. When he got his own apartment, he had an 8-track and I would go there to record songs I’d written, not Slayer songs, other stuff I’d written. At a certain point, you still have the band but you start your own lives outside of the band, so that 24/7 falls to the side, you don’t spend as much time together as you once did. I miss those early days.”

“KERRY: “He was a gigantic World War II buff, his father served in that war, so when Slayer played Russia for the first time – I think it was 1998 – Jeff and I went to one of Moscow’s military museums. I’ll never forget him walking around that place, looking at all of the tanks, weapons and other exhibits. He was like a kid on Christmas morning. But that was Jeff’s thing, he knew so much about WW II history, he could have taught it in school.”

“TOM: “We were in New York recording South of Heaven. Jeff and I were at the hotel and we had to get to the studio – I think it was called Chung King, a real rundown place. So we left the hotel and decided to walk, but then it started raining. We walked maybe five blocks, and it was raining so hard, we were totally soaked, so we decided to get a cab. Here we are, two dudes with long hair and leather jackets, absolutely soaked, thumbing to the studio. No one would stop. We had to walk the entire way. Jeff was a lifeline of Slayer, he wrote so many of the songs that the band will always be known for. He had a good heart, he was a good guy.”

]]>http://www.revolvermag.com/news/slayers-jeff-hanneman-died-of-alcohol-related-cirrhosis-memorial-event-planned.html/feed4Rock World Reacts to Death of Slayer Guitarist Jeff Hannemanhttp://www.revolvermag.com/news/rock-world-reacts-to-death-of-slayer-guitarist-jeff-hanneman.html
http://www.revolvermag.com/news/rock-world-reacts-to-death-of-slayer-guitarist-jeff-hanneman.html#commentsFri, 03 May 2013 00:38:17 +0000http://www.revolvermag.com/?p=48024

An untold number of heavy metal artists and fans, many of whom are at Club Nokia in Los Angeles for tonight’s 5th Annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards, instantly expressed their grief over Hanneman’s death via Twitter. As a tribute to the late guitarist, who died May 2, 2013, of liver failure, tonight’s Golden Gods show is dedicated to Hanneman.

Here are several tweets, with more on the way:

ZAKK WYLDE: RIP brother. You will be missed.

DAVE MUSTAINE: Tonight one less star will be shining and sadly, the stage got just a little bit darker. Jeff Hanneman 1964-2013.

MACHINE HEAD: RIP Jeff Hanneman. One of the greatest songwriters in all of metal let alone music. Our hearts go out to his family and band mates.

SEYMOUR DUNCAN: A member of the Big Four has passed away. Horns up for Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman

NIKKI SIXX: Just heard the sad news about Jeff Hanneman of Slayer. My condolences to his family,the band and all his friends and fans..RIP

Hanneman hasn’t toured with Slayer since early 2011, when he contracted necrotizing fasciitis from a spider bite. Exodus’ Gary Holt stood in for Hanneman starting that February. Pat O’Brien joined the band when Holt returned to Exodus in 2011.

After not appearing live with the band since October 2010, Hanneman joined Slayer at a Big 4 concert in Indio, California, in April 2011. He surprised the crowd of 50,000 when he walked onto the stage unannounced and played “South of Heaven” and “Angel of Death.” Backstage in Slayer’s dressing room, Hanneman relaxed on a couch and said, “I’m the happiest man in the world.”

In 2011, Slayer updated fans about Hanneman’s health:

“As you know, Jeff was bitten by a spider more than a year ago, but what you may not have known was that for a couple of days after he went to the ER, things were touch-and-go. There was talk that he might have to have his arm amputated, and we didn’t know if he was going to pull through at all. He was in a medically-induced coma for a few days and had several operations to remove the dead and dying tissue from his arm. So, understand, he was in really, really bad shape. It’s been about a year since he got out of the hospital, and since then, he had to learn to walk again, he’s had several painful skin grafts, he’s been in rehab doing exercises to regain the strength in his arm; but best of all, he’s been playing guitar.”

Hanneman was born January 31, 1964, in Oakland, California, and acquired a Gibson Les Paul as a teenager after saving $500.

“Two months after that [futureusgalleryin 1981], I met Kerry [futureusgalleryKing], and that’s how Slayer got started,” Hanneman told Guitar World. “I worked in an office building at the time, and this other band practiced in one of the rooms. After work, I’d go hang out with those guys and play, just to learn the instrument. Kerry was actually trying out for that band, but we were more in tune with one another, musically speaking, so we decided to start a group. He also played with Tom [futureusgalleryAraya] in another band, and he knew a drummer that lived on his block. So it all just fell together.”

In 1984, Hanneman, Dave Lombardo and Suicidal Tendencies’ guitarist, Rocky George, had a brief punk side project called Pap Smear. The band was due to start recording when Hanneman was advised to avoid the side project by Slayer’s producer, Rick Rubin. Hanneman took Rubin’s advice, eventually using two songs from the project on Slayer’s 1996 album, Undisputed Attitude.

Hanneman and King perfected a twin-lead guitar style that pushed the band to the head of the thrash metal movement of the early ’80s. They have been crowned as one of thrash metal’s “Big Four,” along with Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth.

Hanneman had performed on every Slayer release and wrote many of the band’s best-known songs, including “Angel of Death” and “South of Heaven.” His compositions have been recorded by Hatebreed, Children of Bodom, Hellsongs and Cradle of Filth and sampled by Styles-P.

Funeral arrangements are still pending.

Reaction from the rock and metal world

Heavy metal Artists and fans, many of whom were gathered at Club Nokia in Los Angeles for the 5th annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards, expressed their grief over Hanneman’s death via Twitter. The Golden Gods show was dedicated to Hanneman.

Here are some tweets; for more reactions from artists and gear manufacturers, head here.

SLASH: Tragic & shocking news about Jeff Hanneman. He is going to missed by so many. What a sad day for Metal. RIP man.

ALEX SKOLNICK: Sad news. RIP JH. He’ll be remembered at #GoldenGods

TESTAMENT: R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman, brother in thrash.

HATEBREED: Rest In Peace Jeff Hanneman! A True Heavy Metal LEGEND!

DINO CAZARES: I’m extremely shocked and sad to hear about Jeff Hanneman. He was a huge influence on my playing when I was growing up.

CHIMAIRA: RIP Jeff Hanneman. Icon

GUS G.: Gutted to read the news. RIP Jeff Hanneman the music world has lost yet another one of the greats

]]>http://www.revolvermag.com/news/slayer-guitarist-and-co-founder-jeff-hanneman-dead-at-49.html/feed9Slayer Working on New Recordhttp://www.revolvermag.com/news/slayer-working-on-new-record.html
http://www.revolvermag.com/news/slayer-working-on-new-record.html#commentsMon, 21 Nov 2011 21:45:40 +0000http://www.revolvermag.com/?p=28385Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo has revealed, via his Facebook page, that the thrash legends are working on a new album. Also in the brief message, Lombardo said that guitarist Jeff Hanneman is still recovering from a necrotizing fasciitis infection he received from a spider bite at the beginning of this year.

“Slayer is writing a new record. Jeff is still recovering and doing better,” Lombardo’s post read.

Since Hanneman contacted the infection, Exodus guitarist Gary Holt has been filling in, including during Slayer’s performance at the Bog Four show at New York City’s Yankee Stadium in September.